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CEBU CITY, Philippines – The Cebu City government is finding ways to reduce the cost of lighting up the 640 decorative lampposts installed during the 2007 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit.
City Planning and Development Officer Nigel Paul Villarete earlier said it would cost the city government P4 million a year to light the decorative lampposts.
This does not include the cost of maintaining these lampposts.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña ordered Visayan Electric Company (Veco) to get sample lampposts to study how the city government can reduce costs.
“I've asked Veco to get three lampposts and see how we can make it less expensive to light them up,” he said.
Osmeña said that he will pay Veco the cost of the three lampposts for their study.
To reduce electricity costs, Osmeña said he wants the lamppost bulbs replaced with more durable ones and those that consume less electricity.
The mayor said spending P4 million to light the lampposts is impractical because these lamps are decorative and do not sufficiently light up the streets.
Veco used to supply power to light up the lampposts but it cut off supply in May 2007 because of unpaid bills.
Most lampposts have also been pilfered.
Osmeña said that the city government wants to maintain them to prevent them from becoming eyesores.
“I have no choice. I don't want those things sticking out there, rusting,” he said.
He said that the city government can allocate funds to rehabilitate them.
But the city has yet to reconcile its inventory of the lampposts with the inventory by the Department of Public Works and Highways. /Reporter Doris C. Bongcac
